INDIANAPOLIS -- Before the USC and UCLA women's basketball teams met in their much-anticipated first matchup of the season on Feb. 13, Trojans coach Lindsay Gottlieb made a hopeful statement to Bruins counterpart Cori Close that came a bit closer to fruition Sunday.

"Lindsay said, 'I'm really hoping we're going to get to do this four times,'" Close said.

UCLA on Sunday prevailed in the teams' third meeting of the season, each game seemingly becoming more consequential. This one came with the Big Ten tournament championship on the line, with the Bruins knocking off the Trojans 72-67 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse to win the title in the schools' inaugural season in the league.

Doing so required a valiant second-half defensive effort against USC and guard JuJu Watkins, the second-leading scorer in Division I, with UCLA holding her to three field goals after halftime and 9-for-28 shooting overall.

Now, as the teams look toward the NCAA tournament, they both remain in contention for No. 1 seeds -- something that would keep the possibility of that fourth potential meeting -- the biggest yet -- on the table.

"I thought whoever won this game should be the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament," Gottlieb said.

UCLA had lost by double digits in the previous two regular-season meetings, the Bruins' only two losses. The competition between them has seemed to strengthen the mutual respect while making the specter of another meeting more real.

"We were No. 1 in the country for 13 weeks," Close said. "[USC] has, really, I think, shown the steadiness and the quality of their wins and how they have grown and changed. They're an excellent team. They're a championship-caliber team."

She added, "I think it would mean a lot for us both to be No. 1 seeds. I think you have to prove yourself. Your play has to back that up. And I hope we do get the chance to do it in Tampa [in the Final Four] a fourth time."

As for the third matchup, it was UCLA that figured out how to finish as USC faltered late.

For much of the game, that seemed unlikely. USC used multiple runs in the first half to take control, including a 9-0 spurt to close the second quarter. When Trojans guard Talia von Oelhoffen hit a 3-pointer 13 seconds into the third to extend that run, USC took its biggest lead at 48-35.

Then, everything changed.

USC, which entered Sunday on a nine-game winning streak, converted just three field goals the rest of the quarter, holding a 2-point lead by its conclusion.

Watkins scored on a jumper with 4:21 left in the third but did not score again until hitting a pair of free throws with 3:13 left in the fourth, as UCLA's smothering defense and rotations created havoc and forced Watkins and the Trojans into a flurry of turnovers.

Lauren Betts, named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, patrolled the paint for the Bruins. When the Trojans opted for outside shots, they were consistently errant. USC shot 22.2% in the second half.

Betts helped key UCLA's offense, too, scoring a team-high 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting.

"I know the amount of work that went into it and this team means everything to me," Betts said. "The confidence that this team has [from] winning that game going into March Madness is a lot."

USC still sees its goals as achievable -- if it can right what went wrong Sunday.

Said Von Oelhoffen: "We missed shots that we usually hit, and it felt like every time we missed an open look they came down and capitalized on it. So, I think we just need to be better navigating the shooting struggles."